I used to skateboard. I used to skateboard a lot. About 7 years ago, skateboarding disappeared from my physical vocabulary — Last week, it was resurrected.
- FIGURE 1 The Loaded Dervish Longboard
After wanting to for a while, I finally decided it was time to purchase a longboard.
For those of you who aren’t hip to the lingo, a longboard (FIGURE 1) is a skateboard with a longer and sometimes wider shape. It is most commonly used for either downhill racing or transportation. I don’t have a death wish, so downhill racing is out — transportation wins.
I’ve been using it to get around in the city and am absolutely falling in love with the freedom and flow. It really is a great way to escape and get some good exercise.
The point of this post isn’t really to sell you on longboarding, but to inspire you to get out and do something that you love. Stop talking about taking dance lessons, and just do it. Stop saying your going to start kayaking, and buy a kayake. Go out and enjoy life.
4 Comments
Glad you feel the same way. There are some things in life that make us feel on top of the world, no matter how simple they are, and when you find ‘em you gotta stick to ‘em. (Don’t give up on downhill so soon though. :D)
Posted by Ben on July 17, 2008 at 2:01 pm | Permalink
@ben, thanks for the tip on which board to get. I absolutely LOVE it. The flex is perfect, and it definitely moves! Need to work on my stopping before getting into downhill though, the sole of my right shoe is almost gone already…
Posted by Kyle on July 17, 2008 at 2:06 pm | Permalink
Man, you must have an amazing, beautiful, loving wife who encouraged you to go ahead and get that long board. You are so lucky.
Posted by Jessica Sollenberger on July 17, 2008 at 3:02 pm | Permalink
@Jessica I hope my future wife supports me in these kind of endeavors. Kyle’s lucky! =)
And yeah, my next skate shoe purchase will be based on sole thickness and strength, hah. That, or replacement soles: http://tinyurl.com/5kff7k
Posted by Ben on July 17, 2008 at 3:39 pm | Permalink